Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border conflict

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border conflict
Source: Hindu
GS II: International Relation

What is discussed under the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border conflict?

In a week, border conflicts between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have killed around 100 people and wounded dozens more.
Russia arranged a cease-fire agreement.
The two landlocked nations share a 1,000-kilometer boundary, much of which is contested.
There have been previous clashes over the distribution of water and land resources.

History

The present conflicts are recreating pre- and post-Soviet period legacies.
Under Joseph Stalin’s guidance, the borders of the two republics were drawn.
Photo by Tamara Gak on Unsplash
Historically, the Kyrgyz and Tajik peoples shared natural resource rights.
The subject of boundary delimitation is a legacy of the Soviet period.
While continuous meetings have attempted to settle the issue, one of the key grounds of contention remains the map that should be used for demarcation reasons.
Almost half of its almost 1000-kilometre boundary is contested.
The establishment of the Soviet Union resulted in the large-scale relocation of cattle to collective and state farms, upending the established status quo.
Unfortunately, there was only so much space available.
Tajik territory experienced a rise in livestock, and with limited grazing grounds, agreements were struck between the two communities on the use of Kyrgyz territory by Tajik animals.

Current flare-up

Recent instances have seen groups from both sides planting trees in contested areas and engaging in physical combat using farm equipment as weapons.
The Ferghana valley is a conflict zone and periodic violent outbursts, with the region, largely populated by Tajiks, Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks, who have traditionally shared common social characteristics, economic activity, and religious customs.
The fall of the Soviet Union led to the creation of independent farms, which resulted in a significant increase in water consumption patterns.
Both nations share several water routes with undulating trajectories and flows, disrupting equal water access on both sides. As a result, small-scale disputes erupt almost every year during the critical irrigation season.
Leaders from both nations have contributed to the prolongation of the war in one way or another by imagining a certain sort of development project with the hope of stabilising their respective countries’ internal dynamics.
This ‘development project’ is comparable to how the Soviet Union saw modernization, which resulted in the large-scale displacement of nomadic people, adding to the current conflict’s ‘environment driver.’

The route to conflict settlement will need opposing parties to agree on a common map.
The international community must make attempts to resolve the disagreement by involving elders in the communities since elders have historically been utilised to mediate conflicts.
To stabilise the geopolitical dynamics, the informal small-scale governance systems would need to be developed further by a coordinated effort by the respective nations.

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